


hāneʻe (collapse)

by boneswrites



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: 10x02: Kuipeia e ka makani apaa, Angst, Cuddles, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode Rewrite: Kuipeia e ka makani apaa, Episode Rewrite: s10e02, Established Relationship, Established Steve McGarrett/Danny "Danno" Williams, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt Danny "Danno" Williams, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Ohana, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2020-11-26 10:24:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20928680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boneswrites/pseuds/boneswrites
Summary: A rewrite for episode 10.02 where it’s Danny with Tani inside the collapsed tunnel, with some additions to the episode. McDanno established relationship.Tani had convinced Danny to go surfing with her before they head into work, and he’s not really sure what came over him, but he agreed. Steve was running some errands before work anyway. And then Danny and Tani stumble onto the collapsed tunnel, and events of the episode unfold.





	hāneʻe (collapse)

**Author's Note:**

> I enjoyed 10.02 but I kept thinking about what if it was Danny with Tani in the tunnel instead of Junior and then this piece was written! And I really like the idea of Danny and Tani hanging out together more so I wanted to explore that, too. I mainly focused on the character switch between Junior and Danny, some of the details of the case aren't mentioned in this piece but I didn't change any of them from the episode, I simply switched Junior with Danny. I hope you enjoy and feedback is always greatly appreciated!

“Shut up,” Danny playfully rolls his eyes at Tani, who’s sitting in the Camaro’s passenger seat. “Admit it, you only asked me to tag along because Junes had errands to run before work. And you didn’t want to surf alone.”

Tani fake gasps. “I am deeply hurt by your words, Detective Williams.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Danny shakes his head. 

Tani chuckles. “Seriously, though, I asked you because I wanted you to join me. And besides, I know where Junes is at when it comes to surfing, I wanted to figure out your level of skill.”

“And tell me, were you impressed?”

“Very much so,” Tani nods. “Not bad for a city boy. I mean, I still kick your ass, but I am impressed.”

“You can thank Steve for that,” Danny says. “Wouldn’t stop badgering me about surfing lessons until I finally took some.”

“Yeah, McGarrett pretty much lives in the water, I’m surprised he hasn’t grown any gills by now.”

“You and me both,” Danny chuckles.

“And for the record, I do surf alone sometimes. And I’m glad Steve badgered you into taking those lessons.” 

“Yeah, me too. I had great moments surfing with Grace, and now with Charlie. He’s still in the beginning stages, but he’s a fast learner. He’ll be better than me in no time,” Danny smiles.

“Yeah, I can see that,” Tani teases. 

Danny and Tani talk for a few more minutes until they reach the traffic caused by the tunnel collapse. 

“What’s with all this traffic?” Danny asks, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion.

“The hell…” Tani says once the tunnel comes into view. 

Steve is standing in his backyard with Lou and Eddie when he gets a call from Tani. 

“Yeah, Tani, what’s up?” Steve picks up. 

“What’s up? I guess you haven’t seen the news?” Tani replies.

“No, kinda had my hands full around here this morning. Why? What’s going on?”

“The Kapahulu Tunnel collapsed. Danny and I aren’t far, we’re thinking that we should get in there and see if we can help,” Tani explains.

“Hold on, if it’s hit the news that means that HFD is already en route. Let them go in, determine whether the thing is stable enough before you race in there.” 

“Yeah, all the more reason we should get in there and start clearing people out. You know that you’d do the same,” Tani pushes. 

Lou, standing in front of Steve, gives him the _you-know-she’s-right_ look. 

“And Danny’s alright with that?” Steve asks. “Because of his—”

“Claustrophobia, yeah he mentioned it. And he says he won’t let me go in alone,” Tani answers, looking at Danny over her shoulder. 

Steve sighs. “Alright, be safe. Okay, please? And keep me posted.” 

As soon as Tani hangs up the phone, she and Danny make their way into the tunnel, helping people out of their crushed cars, giving them bandages and gaze, and leading them towards the light outside of the tunnel. 

“Danny? Danny, get over here, now!” Tani calls out a few minutes later. 

Danny jogs over, covering his mouth with his hand and letting out a couple of coughs.

“I’ve got two vics, they didn’t die in the collapse. GSWs execution style,” Tani reports.

Danny kneels down next to the two bodies. “The blood is fresh, this must have just happened,” he observes. Then he notices a black van with the back doors open, and a pair of undone handcuffs. “Looks like they were transporting a prisoner.”

“Yeah, with no prisoner,” Tani adds, looking around the tunnel. “Whoever did this couldn’t have gotten far.”

“We need to move,” Danny says, leaning down and pulling the gun out of the guard’s holster. 

“Visibility is really bad,” Tani remarks, doing the same. “Let’s split up, we’ll have a better chance at finding him.” 

“Be careful,” Danny calls out after Tani and then goes the other direction. 

Danny’s phone rings, he pulls it out of his pocket to see that Steve’s calling him.

“Steve,” he answers.

“Danny, where are—you? What’s—” Danny looks at the screen to see the service going in and out. 

“Steve, I can’t hear you—we’re in the tunnel, we found a black prison transpo van—both—guards—dead—the prisoner is—”

“Danny, I can barely hear you. Can you find a better signal?”

“Hang on,” Danny replies, trying to stand higher on the rubble. 

And then gunshots erupt around Danny and Tani. 

“Five-0, get your hands up!” Tani yells, returning fire and hitting one of the men who were running. 

“Danny?” Steve calls out, hearing the echo of the gunshots through the weak connection. “Danny! What’s going on?”

Danny turns around and spots some C-4 stuck to the tunnel walls close to him, along with a detonator. 

“Bo—” And then Steve’s phone shows that the call failed.

He sits in silence for a couple of seconds, the only sounds around him being the car’s loud engine, the gravel underneath the wheels and the sound of his blood rushing in his ears.

“Danny!”

Back in the tunnel, Danny was still yelling. “Bomb! Bomb! Everyone, take cover right now! Lets go! Lets go! Get back! Tani, take cover!” 

And the next thing Danny knows, a loud BANG! goes off and sends him flying right into the side of an SUV. 

Then he blacks out. 

He comes to with a ringing in his ear, and slowly, Tani’s voice filters through, repeatedly screaming out his name. But she’s far away, so far away. It’s like Danny is underwater and Tani is calling him from above. And his head hurts.

“Danny? Danny! Danny!”

Tani finds him lying on the ground, surrounded by little pieces of rubble and rocks. “Danny! Hey, are you okay? You okay? Danny…” She helps him sit up, and he leans against the wheel of the SUV. “You okay?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Danny nods but immediately regrets the action. 

“I saw them, I saw…there were two of them with the prisoner,” Tani says. “I hit one of them, but they got out through the emergency door.”

“And then bang,” Danny continues. “It was C-4.”

“That’s what that was.”

“They set it off so no one could follow.”

“I’m thinking none of this was an accident,” Tani says. “The initial cave in, that was…that was them. Think we’re trapped in here?”

Outside, Steve arrives and wastes no time in jumping out of his car, meeting up with Adam and Junior. Adam quickly catches him up with the situation, informing him of the second explosion that went off, that there’s no entry to the tunnel from either end, and no confirmation of fatalities. 

“No word from Danny or Tani,” Junior adds. 

Steve closes his eyes, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. He can’t let his emotions have the upper hand, he needs to remain calm and collected and to think logically about the situation. He unconsciously thinks back to the last thing he heard on the phone call with Danny, gunshots and an incomplete word. But he had recognized the fear in his boyfriend’s voice. He shakes his head, pushing that to the back of his head and focusing on what can be done. What can be done so Danny, Tani and the rest of the people in there get out safely. So he can see Danny and hold him again.

Adam’s voice breaks through Steve’s thoughts. “…to access the situation but it looks like the tunnel is extremely unstable. There is one bit of good news, the ventilation system is still operational which means they have breathable air, for now.”

“We don’t know how long that’s gonna last,” Steve points out. “We gotta get a plan in place. First priority, get Danny and Tani and everyone out. Second priority, figure out who did this and why. Adam, check in all correctional facilities on this island, find out what prisoners were being moved today. In the meantime, lets get helios in the air, dogs on the ground, road blocks around the perimeter,” he orders.

Danny and Tani make their way towards the young lady crying out in help.

“Move, move, step back,” Danny says, making his way through the small crowd of people gathering around. After Danny reassures the young lady that they’ll help her, Danny turns to the crowd. “I’m Detective Danny Williams, this is Officer Tani Rey, we’re with the Five-0 task force, I’m gonna need everyone’s help to move this rock.”

They all work together and once they remove the large rocks surrounding the car, they gently get her out and stabilize her, securing her to a surf board to prevent any additional injuries to her broken legs. 

“What we need to do right now is to establish communication with rescue teams outside, they’ll definitely have arrived by now. What you guys can do, is walk around and see if you get cell signal and let me know,” Danny instructs. 

One of the men comes back a few minutes later. “So I uh, I checked every corner of this place, there’s no cell service.”

“Alright, well maybe someone else will have better luck,” Tani says.

“And what if they don’t?” He asks. “What’s the plan for getting out of here?”

“Gather everyone and come with me,” Tani leads everyone to where the emergency door is, albeit it’s blocked by rocks varying from all sizes. “Alright, you guys can’t see it but behind all this rubble is an emergency door that leads outside.”

“You think we can clear all this out of the way?” Another man from the crowd asks with surprise. 

“That’s gonna take hours,” the first man responds. 

“Maybe, but it’s our only option.”

“I saw a work truck back there, and there’s a dozen shovels on it. If we all work together, we can clear a path to the door,” Danny adds. 

“I saw that work truck too, there’s a jackhammer on it. I say we drill through that wall into the exist,” the man insists. 

“No,” Danny shakes his head. “It’s too risky, we start drilling—vibrations can bring this whole place down.”

“You sure? It seems to have settled,” the second man points out.

“Trust me,” Danny replies. “I went through this exact situation with my partner before, it may seem to have settled but the smallest interference can bring it all down.”

_Steve and Danny were trapped somewhere before? _Tani thinks, not having known that. She decides to ask them about that later. 

“Fine, we’ll try it your way. Where are those shovels?” 

“In the truck.”

*****

“This is the emergency service exit, this it, right there,” Steve points on a blueprint of the tunnel.

“The guy in the yellow vest told me this is right where the second explosion happened,” Junior tells Steve. “Even if we manage to reach that, there must be a mountain of rubble on the other side.” 

“I understand that, but this remains to be our best option. We have to get as many people are we can to help clear a path and get the rubble out of the way, that’s what we gotta do.”

Steve gets a call from Lou, and they chase down some leads and with the help of Quinn, they manage to get the address of where the transport van started its journey that morning. He keeps going, focusing on the now and trying not to think about the fact that he hasn’t heard from Danny since they were cutoff. And his mind can’t help but wonder back to the time when he and Danny were also trapped under a building. But at least then, he was with Danny. And now, now he isn’t and the worry keeps increasing and the hot pit in the SEAL’s stomach keeps getting wider and wider. 

Steve sends Junior and Adam to check out the address, not wanting to leave the site in case they manage to establish contact and he gets to hear Danny’s voice. 

Junior and Adam get to the house to find three dead FBI agents, and a few minutes after their arrival, Quinn shows up as well. They ID their prisoner, along with why he was being questioned by the FBI and they piece together his plan. They catch Steve up—who is getting more and more worried by each passing second—and discuss some theories about their escaped prisoner. After talking to Duke about a blood trail found outside and leading away from the tunnel, Steve hurries, making his way towards the men working to clear a path to the emergency door.

“How are we doing clearing out this access point?”

“We’re going as quickly as we can. Using power tools could cause a cave in, so we’re forced to do everything by hand,” the leader, Keawe, replies.

“We gotta move faster. Come on, come on, come on,” Steve urges, grabbing a shovel and starts removing rubble with the men working. “Lets go, lets move it! Come on! Get some more guys in here, lets go!” 

Steve’s voice wavers, his emotions loud and clear in his tone. He’s worried, but he’s also damn sure about one thing: he isn’t going to lose Danny today. He’s going to do anything and everything to get him, Tani and everyone else out. 

On the other side of the concrete, everyone is working to clear the rubble and get to the door. But while one of the women was removing fallen rocks, she discovers a body. Everyone else helps remove the rocks from around the body so Danny, Tani and two other men can carry him away and take him to the transport van. 

And soon enough, the rest of the people working face another problem: a rock too large for them to move.

A collective sigh of defeat echoes among them.

While Danny and Tani were busy, they don’t notice when one of the men starts using the jackhammer until they hear the sound of the drilling. 

“Hey, hey!” Tani yells, quickly getting up from the ground and running towards the sound. 

“Hey, stop! Stop! The walls aren’t stable! Stop!” Danny howls. 

And suddenly, a jolt of electricity runs through the jackhammer and stuns the man, momentarily cutting off the power and the man falls to the ground with a thud. 

“What the hell happened?”

“He must have hit a power line on the other side, shortened the power,” a young woman replies, the engineering student. 

Danny places two fingers on the man’s neck. “He’s got a pulse. Barely, but it’s there.”

“He’s probably got heart damage. Danny, if he doesn’t get to the hospital right now, he’s gonna die.”

“Commander, we’ve got a problem!” Keawe says.

Steve stops shoveling and looks up, his eyes going wide.

“Somehow the electricity in the main tunnel got shorted. We have back-up power, but there’s no telling how long the generator will last.”

“Which means we could lose the ventilation fan, right?” Steve sighs, closing his eyes. “If that happens, how much breathable oxygen will those people have?”

“Hard to say without knowing the condition of the survivors.” 

Steve feels like he can’t breathe, he takes a steady breath into his lungs.

“That fan was constantly filtering out carbon monoxide. Without it, I’d guess no more than twenty, thirty minutes max.”

“I mean, we have to establish communication,” Steve speaks, his voice heavy, trembling slightly. His brain running a million miles an hour trying to figure out a solution. “You said we don’t have a passage big enough to get one our rescuers in there, right? What about a dog? Come with me.”

Steve jogs outside and calls out for Eddie, who’s sitting next to an officer. Steve makes his way towards them, and tells the officer to fit Eddie with a vest, goggles and a walkie talkie attached to the the vest. He then goes over to the Camaro and grabs Danny’s towel and Tani’s beach bag from the back.

Ten minutes later, the officer and Eddie enter the tunnel and walk towards Steve.

“You know there’s no guarantee he finds a path. Even if he does, he can get trapped in there himself,” Keawe points out.

“I understand the risks,” Steve nods. “Hey, buddy. Sit, sit, good boy,” he leans down to pat Eddie. “Thank you,” he tells the officer and grabs Danny’s towel, placing it in front of Eddie. “Smell this, smell this, that’s Danny.” Then Tani’s bag. “Smell this. Yeah, that’s Tani. Good boy.” Steve gently holds Eddie’s face. “That’s right. That’s Danny and Tani, you’re gonna go in there and you’re gonna take this walkie to them. You got this. You got this.” And then Steve kisses Eddie’s nose. “Lets go.” He leads Eddie towards the small opening in the concrete. “Alright, guys, coming in, coming in. Ready? Go Eddie, go! Good boy, that’s it, boy, good boy!” He watches Eddie dig through the rubble. 

*****

Adam, Junior and Quinn get in touch with Steve, catching him up on the latest from their end. They found out that their prisoner, Jackson Wilcox’s wife has been brought to Hawaii from the mainland three days prior in order to keep him cooperative. However, he had added her location to his schedule and so his team were able to kill the FBI agents in charge to keeping an eye on her and extracting her. They find that one of the hitmen was still alive and they’ll use him to find out where Wilcox is heading. 

Back inside the tunnel, everyone was still working on removing the rocks when they hear a bark coming from behind.

Danny and Tani turn to see Eddie emerging from between the rocks. 

“Eddie?”

“Eddie!” Danny calls out. “Hey! Eddie! Come here, buddy!”

Eddie trots towards Danny and Tani, standing in front of the blonde, who leans down to ruffle his fur.

“He brought a walkie,” Danny notices, grabbing the device. “Good boy, Eddie!” 

He takes a few steps away from the crowd, holding the button to talk and speaks. “This is Detective Williams with the Five-0. Does anyone copy?”

The talkie next to Steve comes to life with Danny’s voice. He pauses for a second, thinking that his mind is playing tricks on him. His arm quickly reaches out without his brain giving the command and grabs the walkie, fixing the signal and immediately speaks into it.

“Danny? Danny! I got you. Oh my god, I’m so glad to hear your voice,” Steve lets out a sigh of relief. 

“Steve!”

“You guys okay? What’s going on? What’s the situation down there?”

“Tani and I are okay, we have two injured, one woman, both her legs are broken, she’s stable but we have a guy who’s been electrocuted. He’s not good, Steve, he needs immediate medical attention,” Danny reports. 

“Hold on, Danny,” Steve surveils the blueprints in front of him. “Keawe, shut down the fans!”

“What? Why?”

“Keep the radio on, Danny,” Steve says, walking towards Keawe. “Shut them down.”

“That’s insane. I can’t do that.”

“Listen to me, we need to get all these people out, we need to do it right now. The best way to bring them up is through the ventilation system,” Steve explains. 

“We shut down those fans, they’re gonna run out of oxygen in twenty minutes.”

“You said it yourself, this entire system could fail any minute. Shut them down, lets go. Lets get to work right now. Danny, you still there?” He talks into the walkie.

“Here, Steve.”

“Okay, listen to me, I got an idea, I need you and Tani to listen to me very carefully.”

*****

Adam, Junior and Quinn, with the help of Lou, find out that Wilcox’s wife and younger brother, Mike, have been having a thing for a few months, and that the whole point of helping him escape was to kill him and to flee the island with his wife. They press Wilcox’s man into giving them his location, telling him that his boss is in danger and he will be killed by his brother. 

At the tunnel, Steve and HFD worked to secure a line and a harness to carry everyone out through the ventilation fan.

“It’s coming down, guys!” Steve yells, lowering the harness through the blades of the fan. 

They get everyone out until it’s time to lift the two injured people, who won’t make it through the opening between the blades. Tani offers to go up till the fan and removes one of the blades to make more room. They manage to get the people on boards out, but the rope rubs against the metal and starts to wear thin with each extraction. Until Danny, Tani and Eddie are the only ones left.

It’s Eddie’s turn to get lifted. And Steve reaches out for him as soon as he makes it out.

“I got you, buddy, I got you! Who’s my big boy? Who’s my good boy?” Steve scratches behind Eddie’s ears. “I knew you could do it, buddy.”

And then it’s Tani’s turn. 

And when it’s Danny’s turn, the unexpected happens.

He’s almost out, being pulled through the fan when the rope snaps but instantly, Danny manages to hold onto the fan. 

“Danny!” Steve shouts out, his heart hammering in his chest. 

But the fan isn’t stable, it moves to the side and not designed to carry Danny’s weight, the metal breaks from the cemented wall and Steve’s heart drops into his stomach as he helplessly watches Danny fall back into the tunnel and slam against the ground. 

“Danny!”

“Danny!”

Steve and Tani are both yelling on the top of their lungs, but below, Danny isn’t moving. 

_No, no, no, no,_ is all that’s repeating in Steve’s head. “I gotta get down there.”

“Getting you down is no problem, but that line can’t hold you and Detective Williams,” Keawe explains.

“I’ll do it,” Tani says, and turns to Steve. “I’ll get him out.”

The rescue team lowers Tani back down into the tunnel. 

“Danny? Danny,” Tani kneels next to him. “Hey, can you hear me? He’s not responding!” She calls out to Steve and then pushes her fingers against his neck. “I have a pulse and he’s breathing.” 

Steve watches as Tani secures the harness around Danny and attach it to her harness. He’s holding his breath, and it’s like there’s no one around him, everything and everyone around him fading away, and he’s only focusing on Danny. He faintly hears someone in the background call for an ambulance but he can’t move, his feet feel like they’re nailed to the ground he’s standing on. 

“Okay, pull us up. Go, go, go!” 

Steve watches in slow motion as the team pulls up Tani and Danny’s limb body. His head is resting against his chest with his eyes closed, and Steve helps them gently lower the detective on the ground so he’s lying on the grass.

Steve wastes no time kneeling next to Danny and talking to him. “Danny? Danny, can you hear me? It’s Steve. Come on, Danno, open your eyes,” he pleads, his breathing escalating when nothing happens. “Come on, Danny, come on.”

Eddie, who was standing next to Steve since he was lifted out, approaches them and lies next to Danny, letting out a sad whine and looking up at Steve. 

“I know, buddy,” Steve lets out a sigh, reaching out a hand, places it on Danny’s cheek and caresses the skin underneath his touch. Danny hadn’t shaved that morning, so it’s a little stubbly. Steve repeats the action a few times until he hears the hustling of the paramedics from behind. 

He steps out of the way, giving them space to work, but remaining close to his boyfriend. He quickly tells them what happened and one of the paramedics tells Steve it’s most likely a concussion. 

The paramedics load Danny into the ambulance and wait for Steve to get in.

He quickly turns to Tani. “Can you take Eddie?”

“Of course,” she immediately nods. “Keep us updated.” 

Steve nods and hops into the back of the ambulance, the paramedic closing the doors behind him and they’re moving fifteen seconds later. 

Steve holds Danny’s hand, running his thumb over Danny’s knuckles. “I’m right here, Danno.” 

The paramedic doesn’t comment. After all, the entire island knows that Steve McGarrett and Danny Williams are in a serious relationship. 

A low groan is heard from Danny as he slowly opens his eyes and looks to the side, and a few moments later, the two Steves merge into one worried looking super seal.

“Hey, Danno, hey,” Steve says, giving him a small smile. 

“Steve…”

“We’re almost at Tripler, just relax. You fell and hit your head and you probably have a concussion. But they’ll take good care of you,” Steve promises. 

“Okay,” Danny whispers, his tired eyes still looking at Steve.

True to Steve’s word, they arrive at Tripler less than ten minutes later. The paramedics wheel Danny into the ER, Steve close behind, as they report his vitals to the doctor rushing towards them. Steve knows the drill, mostly first hand, so he lets them take Danny to an exam room to check him out. He stands in the hallway, and feeling like his knees might give up on him, he decides to lean against the wall. He closes his eyes, letting his head fall backward and takes deep breaths to regulate his racing heart.

“Steve,” it’s Lou.

Steve opens his eyes and sees the team, plus Quinn, speed walking towards him. 

“How is he?” Lou asks, his eyes wide with concern. 

“He’s okay, he regained consciousness on the way and they just took him to an exam room.” 

“He’s gonna be fine,” Adam says, placing his hand on Steve’s shoulder and giving him a supportive squeeze.

Steve nods, glancing back in the direction they took Danny in. 

Instead of standing in the hallway, Adam suggests they move to the waiting room.

The doctor finds them about thirty minutes later. Steve stands up as soon as the doctor walks into the room. “How is he?”

“Resting. He did, in fact, have a concussion and he mentioned his side was hurting as well. He also has a few bruised ribs but those will heal on their own. As for his concussion, we’ll give him something for the pain that should help with the headache, and we’re giving him fluids to keep him hydrated, too,” the doctor answers.

Steve’s shoulders visibly relax at the doctor’s assurance. “Can he go home or does he have to spend the night here?”

“As long as he’s careful and he relaxes for the rest of the day, I don’t see why he can’t rest at home,” the doctor replies. “As long as he doesn’t sleep for the next eight hours and drinks plenty of water, he should be just fine.” 

Steve lets out a relieved sigh. “That’s great to hear. Thank you so much, doc,” he shakes the doctor’s hand. 

*****

“Hey guys, listen, while we’re all here, I just wanna take this opportunity to say great job. We locked up a bunch of bad guys, hopefully some of them are gonna roll on some other bad guys and so on and so forth. So thank you.”

Steve is standing by the grill in his backyard, everyone sitting on chairs, beers in hand, except for Danny, who’s taking a sip from a glass of water. 

“I’m gonna blame this concussion for not having the right words, but uh, thank you guys, and like Steve said, good job,” Danny raises his glass.

“_Not having the right words_?” Steve quotes back to Danny. “Well, that’s a first,” he chuckles, taking a sip from his beer. 

“Zip it,” Danny playfully throws at Steve, making the rest of the team chuckle.

Quinn looks a little confused.

“You see,” Adam looks at Quinn, “a day doesn’t go by without these two bickering and arguing like the old married couple they are.” 

“Oh,” Quinn’s eyes go wide a bit. “You two are married?” 

“We’re not married,” Steve says. “Not yet, but we’re getting there.” 

“But the truth is, they’re been married long before they got together,” Lou adds with a laugh.

“True that,” Adam chuckles. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Danny rolls his eyes but smiles.

Steve smiles too, taking another sip of beer and looking lovingly at Danny. 

The conversation switches to their case and the latest leads they got. 

“You know, as much as I love shop-talk, and I do,” Lou interjects, “can we stop with it already, please? It’s smelling good out here, chief. Watcha got over there for us?”

“We got some dogs, some world-famous McGarrett burgers and a little sirloin I picked up from the butcher,” Steve replies. 

“Don’t overcook the steak. You overcook it, it defeats its own purpose,” Danny tells Steve. “I’ll have mine medium-rare, please.” 

“No, there’s no…no steak for you, there’s one steak, it’s for Edward right here,” Steve points out.

“Eddie doesn’t eat kibble?”

“He’s got plenty of kibble, but he’s a hero today. I mean, this kid put goggles on and went into the trenches and saved a bunch of people. Saved you, and me, as a matter of fact,” Steve outlines. “He gets a steak. He’s my man.”

Adam chuckles, moving his eyes back and forth between Steve and Danny. 

“The bickering, yeah I see it, I definitely see it,” Quinn says, chuckling too. 

“Hey, Danny,” Tani says, “you mentioned in the tunnel that you were in that same exact situation with Steve before. What happened?” 

“Ah, yeah, that wasn’t fun,” Danny shakes his head. “Happened about six years ago.”

“Yeah,” Steve nods. “We got a tip from an inmate about a gun deal that was gonna go down in a garage, so we raided it but surprise, there was no gun deal. Instead, Danny and I found a man tied up in the maintenance room with a phone attached to him. It rings, and I answer it and next thing we know…”

“Bang!” Danny continues. “But we got out of there in one piece, mostly.” 

“Mostly?” Junior repeats.

“Yeah, Danny was pierced by a metal rod,” Steve elaborates. 

“That was a stressful and an intense day,” Lou recalls. 

“It’s because of that day that we both realized how we feel about each other,” Danny says.

“And I honestly can’t believe it took you both years to realize that. I had known you for a few years by then and I had noticed your feelings for each other a week into knowing you,” Adam chuckles. 

“Same here,” Lou nods, smirking. 

“Yeah, you guys teased us about it enough,” Steve laughs, sipping on his beer. 

“I, for one, can’t wait for the wedding,” Tani smiles.

*****

“You feeling okay?” Steve asks Danny as he gets into bed.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” Danny replies.

Steve slips under the cover and moves closer to Danny. The shorter man automatically gravitates towards his boyfriend, placing his head on Steve’s chest and wrapping an arm around Steve’s waist. 

Steve carefully pulls Danny closer and drops a kiss to the blond’s temple. “I was so worried today.”

“I was, too,” Danny sighs. 

“I know I keep telling you to think positively and not to think about the worst case scenario, but today…today I couldn’t help it, and my mind kept wandering back to that. I didn’t know if you were hurt or not. The last thing I heard before our phone call failed was the sound of gunshots. I tried to keep moving and figuring out how to get you guys out of there, but I was worried out of my mind,” Steve runs his hand up and down Danny’s back. 

“I was trying to keep busy in there, too, so I don’t think about the worst case scenario. Cause if I did, I wasn’t going to be able to move or think or help. All I would think about is that I won’t see you or Grace or Charlie ever again. And I couldn’t go there, because that thought paralyzes me. And I knew I had to fight to see the three people I love more than anything again,” Danny expresses. 

“I was ready to do anything and everything to get you out of there, Danny, because not seeing you again wasn’t an option for me either.” 

“I know, babe, and you did. You got us out of there,” Danny moves his head to look into Steve’s eyes.

“You almost didn’t get out…” Steve whispers.

Danny frowns. “Hey, no, no, that wasn’t your fault. You didn’t know that was gonna happen. It could have happened to anyone.”

“But it happened to you, Danny, and you got hurt.”

“I’m fine, Steve, I promise, I’m fine, I’m right here.”

“Watching you fall and being completely helpless as it happened, it broke me Danny, it shattered me, and I thought I lost you,” Steve closes his eyes and moves his head so his nose is nuzzling against Danny’s soft blond hair, taking in the scent of the peach shampoo Danny uses. 

“In that moment…it all happened so quickly, I saw your face for a split second and I thought…” Danny swallows, “I thought your face was going to be the last thing I ever saw. And I realized that there’s so much I wanted to tell you that I haven’t said yet. And I can’t let another moment pass by without me saying all I want and need to say.”

“I’m right here, Danny.”

“I’ve never loved anyone the way I love you, Steve. You’ve made me a better person, by knowing you, by being your friend, by being your partner, by being your boyfriend. I can’t imagine my life without you. I don’t want to imagine my life without you. And the way you are with Grace and Charlie, you started by being their Uncle Steve but now you’re their dad. No words can ever express how much that means to me. I want to grow old with you, I don’t want to spend a day away from you,” emotion takes over Danny’s tone, his eyes watering. 

“Danny, I…” Steve takes a deep breath, his watering as well. “I never thought I’d love someone the way I love you. And Grace and Charlie are two of the biggest gifts life ever gave me. I don’t and can’t imagine my life without you, either. I want to grow old with you, too, Danny. I want to spend the rest of my life by your side.”

Danny smiles, slightly leaning up to kiss Steve’s neck.

“And there’s something I want to promise you,” Steve says.

“What’s that?”

“I promise that I’m going to be more careful, on cases and leaping off buildings…I’m going to be more careful.”

“You have no idea how happy that makes me,” Danny sighs, resting his head back on Steve’s chest. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Steve plants a kiss to Danny’s forehead.

“What a day, first a bomb planted in our garage and then a collapsed tunnel.”

“Tell me about it,” Steve shakes his head. “But we’re okay.”

Eddie, who was sleeping on the floor near the bed, decides to jump on the mattress and lay down by Danny and Steve’s feet. He looks at them, opening his mouth in a smile, his tail wagging. 

“We’re okay,” Danny nods, leaning up once again and closing the distance between him and Steve with a tender kiss. “We’re together.”

“Always,” Steve vows.


End file.
